Thank you all so very much for your patience; also great thanks to those who wrote in to see if everything was ok, cause you missed getting your newsletter! So sweet! ... let's get caught up!

BREAKING NEWS & ANIMALS IN NEED

As mentioned just before the 2014 holiday season, C4P took a sabbatical to upgrade all technology and systems, complete a scrub and re-entry of entire C4P database, and migrate everyone to new Constant Contact system in order to be better able to track analytics and ensure CASL. All of this, while juggling the most ambitious of rescue projects and arguing myriad technical difficulties into the ground! So great to be (finally!) fully automated although I never expected it to take this long!

...Please bear with us if any hotlinks are wonky in the new newsletter. I promise to become much more proficient at this over time...

Fifi is a 3 yr old Norwegian elkhound cross who has been at the shelter for 8 months. She was surrendered after being rescued from an abusive situation. She has trust issues and has nipped volunteers, guards in her kennel, and doesn't have the skill set to handle some social situations. On the plus side, she is happy, playful, a couch-potato, housebroken, looks forward to walks and eagerly stands on back legs and "prays", and enjoys cuddles and tummy rubs from those she trusts. Fifi has developed a good 'sit' while waiting for her leash to be attached, and also if she pulls while walking. A large weight gain while at the shelter may be due to thyroid problems, which could also explain the behaviour issues; this has not been checked out. A patient, experienced owner with no kids who would set limits firmly but thoughtfully would let Fifi believe she is operating under her own terms, which is what she likes. If interested please contact Upper Credit Humane Society at 519-833-2287 or adoptions@uppercredit.com.

INFO & BEST PRACTICES

CASL: Last summer, we posted extensively about ensuring secure opt-ins to our newsletter. This newsletter edition today, is actually a BETA test -- anyone who wants to unsubscribe please do so now, using the "unsubscribe" option at the bottom of this newsletter. We'll update any bounce backs from the distribution today, and then we'll be 100% up-to-date on this end, and ready for more rounds of publishing! Be sure to mention to any of your rescue friends that C4P is back up and running. We want to make sure we haven't missed one precious soul on the distribution list! Very special thanks to Juli Kaiss and Mikhial Gurarie for their excellent work in helping to ensure the integrity of all the data and systems on this end.

In terms of best practices, readers note that we will be migrating most ANIMALS IN NEED posts onto C4P's Facebook Page. Facebook is tremendous for animal advocacy. To date, C4P Animal Rescue has just under 800 Facebook peeps. For those of you who "Facebook", if you "like" and "follow" us through social media, our animals in need will enjoy much greater and much faster market reach.

Pam - this one's for you... Animal Rescue Hoodies are coming!!! It's time for a new hoodie run. As soon as the farm project wraps, C4P is going to be getting a new batch of animal rescue hoodies made. It's going to take some time to orchestrate, but please start thinking now about if you want one. We'll be ordering XL, L, and M, black only, with white "ANIMAL RESCUE" embroidered on the front left. In a few weeks, I'll be organized enough to start taking pre-orders. YAY!

Have the discussion with friends. We are seeing an increase in the breeding of pigs and it's got to stop!

ACTION ALERTS & COMMUNITY EVENTS

C4P RESCUE UPDATES

Farm Animal Succession Update: As we closed out last season, C4P took a stewardship role in helping re-home 100+ farm animals, whose rescue is retiring. To date we've placed well over 2/3 of the animals, and still have some 15+ Saanen/Alpine cross goats and Dorper-type sheep, 6 Yorkshire Pigs, a handful of Muscovy Ducks, and 3 Banty Roosters to place. If anyone is interested in supporting these animals, or, if anyone has leads to veggie/vegan farms for placements, contact C4P.

Giant thanks to all the wonderful people who have supported this project. Extra special thanks are due to our friend and animal advocate Colleen for enabling this giant transition at C4P, and also to Kara Burrow of Ralphy's Retreat for her incredible expertise in networking farm animals in need: Ralphy's Retreat

I'm not usually a fan of "animal analogies" but it's great to be back in the saddle again!!! We look forward to working together this coming year and positively impacting as many innocent lives as we can!